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My First Journal. Coffee Problems! The Grind.
2 years ago
I figured it was about time to write a journal. Hmmm, what should I talk about?
Ah, yes! Writing. That seems on brand.
I spend a lot of time in coffee shops. Every morning I wake up at 5:30, commute to said coffee shop, and write for an hour and fifteen minutes before going to my job. It's all the writing I have time for, and it requires me overcoming morning bed gravity, but it's still 5 or so hours every weekday, so I'd say that's probably better than it could be!
However, I have two big problems each and every morning:
First, I'm easily distracted. I'm in a coffee shop bright and early right now, actually, updating my FA profile description and, indeed, writing this journal instead of finishing Zweihander Part 2. It's frustrating. Once I get writing, I practically can't stop, but getting over that hump to actually begin is a herculean task sometimes. It's demoralizing. I can feel my self-esteem decaying by the minute.
Second, I write slowly. Painfully slowly. I average about 500 words per hour, and they're not particularly good words, in my opinion. For every hour writing, I'll probably spend 2 hours editing, with mixed results as you can probably tell. The first part of Zweihander took what felt like an age! Civilizations rose and fell before I finished that story. It makes me quite self-conscious. Hopefully it's something that gets better with time. I did, after all, only get back into writing a few months ago after a ten year stretch of distractions.
I'm interested in hearing what others think of my two big problems. I'm sure they're not unique to me! And I'd like to see how others deal with them.
In other news, I'm grappling with the stress of a new job at the moment, which is going pretty well despite said grappling! But the grind does take away from my capacity for writing, so you may see the effects of that. I'm also working on Zweihander Part 2 and a submission for Edwin's Job Interview Prompt compilation, so my Thursday Prompts might be a bit short or nonexistant for a bit! Please forgive me.
Anyway, I hope you're doing well! Have a good week/month/year everyone!
Ah, yes! Writing. That seems on brand.
I spend a lot of time in coffee shops. Every morning I wake up at 5:30, commute to said coffee shop, and write for an hour and fifteen minutes before going to my job. It's all the writing I have time for, and it requires me overcoming morning bed gravity, but it's still 5 or so hours every weekday, so I'd say that's probably better than it could be!
However, I have two big problems each and every morning:
First, I'm easily distracted. I'm in a coffee shop bright and early right now, actually, updating my FA profile description and, indeed, writing this journal instead of finishing Zweihander Part 2. It's frustrating. Once I get writing, I practically can't stop, but getting over that hump to actually begin is a herculean task sometimes. It's demoralizing. I can feel my self-esteem decaying by the minute.
Second, I write slowly. Painfully slowly. I average about 500 words per hour, and they're not particularly good words, in my opinion. For every hour writing, I'll probably spend 2 hours editing, with mixed results as you can probably tell. The first part of Zweihander took what felt like an age! Civilizations rose and fell before I finished that story. It makes me quite self-conscious. Hopefully it's something that gets better with time. I did, after all, only get back into writing a few months ago after a ten year stretch of distractions.
I'm interested in hearing what others think of my two big problems. I'm sure they're not unique to me! And I'd like to see how others deal with them.
In other news, I'm grappling with the stress of a new job at the moment, which is going pretty well despite said grappling! But the grind does take away from my capacity for writing, so you may see the effects of that. I'm also working on Zweihander Part 2 and a submission for Edwin's Job Interview Prompt compilation, so my Thursday Prompts might be a bit short or nonexistant for a bit! Please forgive me.
Anyway, I hope you're doing well! Have a good week/month/year everyone!
"First, I'm easily distracted." - Preach it brother, though I'm sure the coffee isn't helping! Personally I don't drink caffeine at all.
Trust me, there's nothing wrong with your writing, and you'll get a lot quicker and it will be much easier with practice.
"I did, after all, only get back into writing a few months ago after a ten year stretch of distractions." - are you sure we aren't related? ;) I took up my pen in my teens, wrote a few things, and didn't pick it up again until fifteen years later, mostly because I was totally stressed out by various factors and couldn't concentrate. But things are a lot better now, fingers crossed it stays that way.
What do you do if you don't mind me asking? Just generally.
And as for me, its 1350 hrs Zulu Time here and I'm in the office from 1900 to 0700 tonight, so going to go back to bed for a couple of hours. Sleep schedule? What is that?
Thanks for the insight into the life of Skye the Writer!
The coffee shop environment really helps me, for some reason. I work better in the morning and when I'm not in isolation, which I'm sure is out of the ordinary! Maybe I'll try working on writing alone again and see how it goes though, since everyone seems to prefer that method. Experimenting with my writing times and places might do me some good.
As for what I do, I'm a technical writer! It's the boring side of the writing profession, but I live in America and thus I need good healthcare to not be threatened with bankruptcy at the slightest stub of a toe. I'm kinda stuck with it. Going to school for technical writing, followed by the job search and job-having, was what kept me from writing creatively for that decade. I'm glad to hear we've both gotten to a place where we can write again!
Ah I see, I once had a position where I had to read documents all day, I gave that up partly because it meant I was having trouble reading for enjoyment, and reading is my main hobby.
Not sure how you'd improve your writing speed, so good luck.
Also good luck managing things between the writing and busy other tasks of the day.
Luckily, I have a job that allows me plenty of downtime between spikes in activity and I get a lot written (when the urge strikes) while I'm working. I've written entire books between those spikes while sitting at the office and even more now that I work from home. I'm just lucky in that regard, I suppose.
re: writing speed - When I was in my twenties (a long time ago), I remember struggling to hit 25 words per minute typing so I could get simple office jobs as a temp. Now, it's up around 50-70 depending on how hard the inspiration is hitting. I can sometimes even keep up with the thoughts in my head, though I have discovered that, on occasion, my hands will write things I hadn't even thought of. I like to think that's the character just... taking control... when that happens.
In short - the more you practice, the faster you will get and the cleaner your prose will become. I still go back and prune and edit two or three times before I am happy, but most of the time, that first draft is almost good enough to be the final, sans a few missed words or repetitive elements.
And I think people-watching would do me some good, as well! I could probably learn a lot from the characters walking in and out of that shop. Sometimes I want to know what life is like for the daily customer who orders his machiatto with seven extra shots of espresso.
I wish I could write flow-of-conciousness like that. I used to be able to, but I lost that skill somewhere down the line. Hopefully I'll get back there with enough time, like you said.
I wish I could advice you on solving the problem, but I tend to have the same problems.
I can’t write in public and need no distractions. There is a hump that needs over and the key needs to be turned and I have found it takes about an hour for the hump to be overcome. Why the night is easier to get over the hump, but most successful if I have nothing going on that day and just get over.
I write about the same per hour. Both of us are bloody slow. My universal exchange for reading insanely fast. You’re a faster editor though. I spend about six hours editing and still constantly finding a bread crumb trail of mistakes every time I open the document.
So, no you’re not the only one. Take your time. The key thing is to keep writing. Write when you can and when things strike you.
Sadly work does suck that because if you stop it gets hard to sit back in the cock pit. My job waxes and wanes in busy. I am about to enter a time for little writing which sucks and I am behind schedule. At the same time like FCneko there are times I have a lot of time to write, the key is using it.
It's reassuring to hear that someone who's so good at writing is "bloody slow" like me, too. Lol.
Ugh, sad to hear you're stuck in the same boat with a busy job. I can't imagine the number of amazing novels from brilliant authors that have surely been lost to the 9 to 5.
Yep, I am slower than balls. Well, if I find the secret, I'll let you know.
Nah, my job waxes and waynes, but I am about to enter into a very busy period.
Vix
Vix
Vix
Same thing for distractions. I tend to wait to edit until I'm done, but that's just me.
Fly by post as I'm home and off to bed, nightie!*
*wow how Freudian...
*foxes are really good at flouncing...